Gasoline dispensers, or gasoline pumps, as referred to by the general public, are common features at service stations for dispensing gasoline, diesel fuel, or the like. While commonly called "pumps", because these originally were cabinets containing individual pumps for the dispensing of gasoline, this term is now a misnomer, since generally a single separate pump is used to transfer gasoline from a storage tank to a number of dispensers. The dispenser housings themselves, thus, only contain components for feeding gasoline from a supply conduit to a dispensing hose and nozzle, and certain auxiliary equipment, such as electronic metering and pricing equipment. Gasoline dispenser housings are normally set in place on a pump box, which is in the form of a metal frame, disposed in the ground, either flush with the concrete surface of a service station or flush with the concrete surface of an island built in the service station area, the metal frame, open at the top and bottom with a support in the frame to hold a safety valve that is connected at one end to a fuel line, and at the other end to the dispenser. One type of metal frame, or pump box, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,770, which pump box is a generally rectangular housing, open at both the top and bottom and has four walls with flanges on two of the walls to support the box in a framework. A layer of course ground or stone is usually provided beneath the pump box and concrete poured around the box to enclose the same. Any gasoline that might spill from the dispenser conduit, in the case of a mishap, would thus drain into the ground or other earthen material below a conventional pump box.
With the advent of more stringent environmental regulations, it is important to attempt to contain any gasoline spillage and prevent passage of such spillage to the ground, where absorption could require removal and treatment of the contaminated ground material.